Patrol Procedures

1. Patrol Procedures PAT 1004

2. Policy • Volunteer patrol teams should assist the Burleson Police Department in preventing and deterring crime by observing and reporting suspicious activity and any city or state violations.

3. Patrol Service • Coverage during times that crimes are most likely to occur • Patrol service in 4 hour blocks • May not work more than 8 hours • Captains will maximize patrol schedules

4. Patrol Areas • To maximize effectiveness—patrol teams will be assigned a patrol area that coincides with the patrol districts (north, south, east & west) • On-duty supervisor may request specific patrols • If 2 patrol teams—one will work N/W and other will work S/E • If multiple (more than 2) teams are working—citizen captains will assign specific districts or special assignments.

5. Roll Call • Check in with supervisor and dispatch. Get radio at this time. • Give dispatch your information sheet. • Teams may sit in on PD roll calls—6am,2pm and 10pm. • Get close patrol and vacation check information and specific information on recent criminal incidents.

6. Volunteer Patrol Vehicles • Teams will use their personal vehicles for patrol. Team members may split the shift with their vehicle usage. • Vehicles must be inspected by Program Director or designee. • Must have current registration and inspection stickers—no equipment violations. • Must have insurance. • No unnecessary equipment. • Magnetic signs must be prominently displayed at all times. • Teams will never pursue a suspect or drive reckless to keep up with suspect • Teams may not be allowed to have anyone ride with them that has not graduated a COPS academy class.

7. Neighborhood Patrols • Patrol teams will drive around neighborhoods in their assigned districts during their scheduled patrol times. • Patrol teams will observe and report the following: • Suspicious persons • Traffic Hazards • Junked Vehicles • City Ordinance Violations • Hazardous Conditions • Any Criminal Activity

8. Suspicious Persons • Patrol teams will observe and report persons who they believe are about to commit an offense. The non-driving patrol team volunteer will immediately record the following information: • Time • Day of week • Date • Location • Type of Location (residential, business, park, etc.) • Suspect’s physical and clothing description • Suspect vehicle information • Brief description of activity

9. Suspicious Persons • The patrol team will then notify BPD dispatch through a handheld radio of the activity to have a patrol unit respond if the person is still in the immediate area and a patrol unit is available. If a patrol unit is not available or the suspect leaves the area, the patrol team will fill out a TIPS form which will be turned into the police department for review by criminal investigations and patrol. • Under no circumstances will a volunteer be allowed to contact a suspect for any reason. A violation of this section will result in an immediate termination from the program.

10. Traffic Hazards • Patrol teams will observe and report problems regarding road hazards that could cause an accident if the condition is not addressed by a police officer. The traffic hazard can be the following: • Vehicle or object in the roadway • Reckless or Intoxicated driver • Damaged roadway • The patrol team will notify BPD dispatch through the non-emergency number the location and vehicle or object description.

11. Junked vehicles • patrol teams will report junked vehicles in the roadway that are nuisances. • The patrol team will check to see if either the registration or inspection stickers are current. • If either are expired, then they will determine of the vehicle appears to be disabled. • If those two criteria are met then the patrol team will contact dispatch by phone and give the location and vehicle description. • The team will also report to the dispatcher how long they have observed the vehicle at that location.

12. City Ordinance Violation • If a patrol team observes a city ordinance violation, then the team may contact dispatch through the non-emergency number to report the activity or by handheld radio in some cases. Some of the types of city ordinance violations may be: • Commercial motor vehicles parked on residential streets. • Park Curfew Violations • Juvenile curfew violations • Trailers on residential streets causing a traffic hazard • Animal Ordinance Violations (loose animals, selling animals, etc.) • Noise violations (Loud music) • Construction after hours

13. Hazardous Conditions • During routine patrol, volunteers may observe a condition that could pose as a health threat to the public. If a patrol team observes a hazardous condition, then they will contact dispatch through the use of their handheld radio. The dispatcher will decide if the hazard should be reported immediately to the specific city or state department that is responsible or if the report should be made the next day with the proper department. Some types of hazardous conditions may include, but is not limited to: • Water main breaks • Electricity problems • Smell of gas • Large amount of solid wastes

14. Criminal Activity (In progress) • If a patrol team observes a criminal act in progress, they should: • Contact dispatch through their handheld radio and report the activity. (Location, Injuries, Type of Offence, etc.) • Move to a safe location where they will not be detected by the criminals. • Give Dispatch-- suspect descriptions including any weapon information. • Give Dispatch--suspect vehicle information and direction of travel if they have left the scene. • If a patrol team is detected by a suspect, leave the area immediately!

15. Business Patrols • Patrol teams will drive around neighborhoods in their assigned districts during their scheduled patrol times. • Patrol teams will observe and report any suspicious activity in business areas. • Patrol teams will drive around parking lots of businesses in their assigned areas. • Patrol teams are to only observe and not make any contact. • The purpose of business patrols are to prevent and deter criminal acts such as; burglary of motor vehicles, theft of vehicles, purse snatching, etc. They will not normally report parking violations. • Patrol teams will follow the same guidelines on suspicious persons in business areas as they are written in the procedures for neighborhood areas.

16. Traffic Control • COPS volunteers may be allowed to assist the police department with traffic control under certain circumstances only under close supervision by an officer. • Volunteers may assist with traffic control for the following reasons: • Keep traffic from disregarding a barricade at an intersection that has been blocked off for a parade. • An area that has been blocked off for a catastrophic event, such as; areas damaged due to severe weather. • Special events where roadways are blocked off. • Other events that have been approved by the program director. • Volunteers are required to wear their reflective traffic vests anytime they are performing traffic control duties. • Patrol teams will not be allowed to work traffic control on Wilshire Blvd or I-35. • If a patrol team is on duty and observes a traffic accident, the team will report the accident using their handheld radio and wait for a patrol officer to arrive. Only after the patrol officer has protected the accident scene with the use of cones, flares or the patrol vehicle may a patrol team assist the patrol officer in traffic control.

17. Missing Person Searches • Volunteers may be called in for an emergency search for a missing person. • The program director will decide if a call out is necessary and how many volunteers will be contacted. • Once the program director decides a call out is necessary, he will notify the citizen captains to make the calls. • Responding volunteers will meet at the Burleson PD for further instructions by the program director or on-duty patrol supervisor. • Volunteers will wear their reflective traffic vests during a search effort.

18. Concealed Handgun License • If a volunteer is a licensed concealed handgun carrier, he(she) will not be allowed to carry the weapon during their patrol duty time or any function with the COPS program. • The volunteer will also not carry the weapon in any place, including the Police Department, where it is prohibited by state law.

19. Injured Persons/First Aid • During routine patrols, volunteers may arrive at scenes where there are injured persons before emergency personnel arrives the scene. Patrol teams will be trained by the Burleson PD in providing basic first aid and CPR. • Only volunteers who are trained by the Burleson PD may perform basic first aid on injured persons and only to the extent to stabilize an injured person until a trained medical technician arrives. • Volunteers will only perform first aid that they are capable of performing and have been trained to provide. • Volunteers will not move a victim unless there is an immediate danger to the victim or other persons. • Volunteers will be provided medical gloves to prevent any contamination by a communicable disease.

20. Prohibited Patrols • Teams are not allowed to patrol areas that are considered risky or dangerous such as “known drug houses” because of the inherent risks involved with persons that are associated with those areas. • Teams are not allowed to “respond” to areas that involve a disturbance unless the area is considered safe and secure by responding patrol units and are requested to respond for non-risky functions to assist patrol. Teams should try to patrol other areas of the city during incidents that would require the majority of on-duty patrol units to respond.

21. Patrol Techniques

22. Types of Patrol Random Grid Spiral

23. Patrol “Don’ts” • When you here a major call—don’t go to scene unless requested—patrol the opposite area of city. • Don’t patrol just businesses—get in the neighborhoods also. • Don’t expect that you will find a criminal every shift!!

24. Business Patrols • Go down every aisle • Look for cars backed in—drivers in car—sometimes close to front doors • Look for suspicious persons hanging out at front doors • Look for people in cars that are hiding • Double back through in case you missed something

25. Neighborhood Patrols • Drive Slow • Watch for vehicles with persons inside and motor running • Watch people walking—bulges, looking into cars, checking doors, etc. • Use flashlights

26. Questions?